Improvement in life-preserving floats



T. HUSMER. Lif-Preserving Floats.

Patpnted March 4, 1873.

No. 36,436. c ig.

OGRAFHC' m MY osaome' PRacrss:

AM. PHOT0-LITH UN TED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

THEODORE HOSMER, OF SANDUSKY, OHIO.

MPROVEMENT lN LIFE-PRESERVING FLOATS,

Specification forming part of Letters Pateut No. 136,436, dated March 4,1873;

To all whom it may cancer n:

Be it known that I, THEODORE HOSMER, of Sandusky, in the county of Erieand State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement inLife-Preservers, of which the following is a speeification:

The invention consists in the improvement of life-preservers,as'hereinafter described and claimed.

Iu the drawing, Figurel is a top or plan view. Fig. 2 is a section takenon the line m a: of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line y y ofFig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parte.

A is a frame somewhat 'esembling a horseshoe in form, made of wood, intwo sections, the inner sides of which are grooved, with the groovefilled with cork B to make the frame buoyant. The frame may be made ofmetal, or of anyother suitable material, with one or more air-tightchambers therein, for the purpose of making the frame buoyant. The frameis made, say, three feet wide and fourfeet long, and' about three inchesin thickness, with a circular orifice, O therein to receive the weightof the person using it. Through the opening D E is a safety-beltattached'to the frame, which is buckled around the chest of the person,under the arms or around the waist. F 1 are safety-loops for the personusing the preserver. G G' are loops, by means of which other persons inthe water may hold on to the frame and support themselves withoutsinking the frame; the frame is, therefore, designed to be of suficientbuoyancy to support one or more persons.

When a person has succeeded in thus fastening himself in the frame he issafe as far as Sinking is concerned, and will find.

it a real life-preserver; but I do not only desire to keep him andothers from sinking, but to give him means for moving or propelling'himself while in the water; and for this purpose I make the slots H Hthrough the frame, in which I place the rotating paddles or propellers II. J is a transverse shaft, to which the propellers are attached. Theshaft is revolved by means of the levers K K, which the person in theframc seizes, the power to rotate the shaft being applied when he pullson the levers by means of ratchet-wheels L L, pawls M M, and spurwheelsN N. This arrangement is seen in Figs. 1 and 2.

It will be observed that in a small structure like a life-preserver itis not only necessary to secure an efiective propeller, but that itsoperative mechanism shall be, as far as possible, protected from thewavcs, and be arranged to occupy no additional space, when packed,beyond that required for the life-preserver itself. By my invention itwill be seen that I- do not, therefore, only operate the propellereasily and to advantage, but my actuating mechausm is entirely inclosedwithin the lifepreserver, the whole making a compact andeasily-transportable device.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- The propeller nechanisn I J, the ratehetwleels L,pawls m, spur-wheels N, and levers K, combined and applied in connectionwith a lit'e-preserver as and for the purpose described.

'THEODORE HOSMER. Witnesses:

T. B. MOSHER, (3. SEDGWICK.

